Not Coming Here: Toyota Announces the New Urban Cruiser EV

by Chris Teague

Published: December 12th, 2024

not coming here toyota announces the new urban cruiser ev

Americans love to complain about all the cool Euro models we don’t get from German automakers like BMW and Mercedes, but Japanese automakers are pretty good at withholding vehicles, too. The cool factor of the new not-for-America Toyota Urban Cruiser is debatable, but it certainly has some neat features we’d like to see here.

The Urban Cruiser is an electric model that shares its underlying engineering with the Suzuki e Vitara, and it will be built alongside that model on Toyota and Suzuki’s Indian production line. The model’s debut marks a return to Europe for the nameplate, which has been absent there for the last eight years.

Toyota will offer two battery options for the Urban Cruiser, including 49- and 61-kWh packs. The smaller battery comes with a single electric motor making 142 horsepower and 139 pounds of torque, while the larger battery pairs with either a single or dual-motor setup, with the latter producing 181 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque.

While it’s not currently scheduled for a North American release, a vehicle like the Urban Cruiser could sell here. It’s a crossover, so there’s none of the “I must have an SUV” nonsense, and both powertrain offerings produce decent specs. We don’t have range numbers yet, but Toyota will include a heat pump and a user-initiated preheat feature to improve battery charging times in cooler weather.

[Images: Toyota]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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3 of 10 comments

Spookiness on Dec 12, 2024
Some carmaker needs to figure out how to market and sell a less-expensive and good-enough-range EV to US buyers as SECOND (or more) cars. As when people started buying Hondas and Toyotas in the 70's, and VW Beetles before that. They were often bought as 2nd cars to supplement "big" (i.e. "real") cars they already had. Or they were entry-level less expensive for people whom the car was a step up from walking or public transportation. The EV market in the US is still "luxury", at least in price if not comfort. The focus has all been at the top end of the market, I get it, that's how capitalism works, but there just isn't an EV for the masses yet, and given current political and economic factors I'm not sure if/when there will be.

2 Reply
- Add Lightness on Dec 12, 2024
  100% duty on inexpensive but good EVs isn't going to help any.
  
  1
Lorenzo on Dec 13, 2024
What's with the squared off steering wheel? The E-Charger has one too. That was on the 1950s Imperial, so it's retro on the Dodge, but a Toyota/Suzuki?

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